Above: What a mindblowingly great show last night by The Anthony Wilson Trio, with Larry Goldings on Hammond B-3, Jeff Hamilton on drums, and guest Gilbert Castellanos on trumpet! The old auditorium at the hyberbolically postmodern Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla continues to be a great “room” to hear jazz.
Wow, last night, whadda night… At the last minute, our good friend Robin Stark hooked me up with a ticket via her frequent flier miles and got me into La Jolla for Anthony Wilson Trio’s show at the Neurosciences Institute.
These guys — each of them a jazz master in his own right — performed two spell-binding sets, with original composition “Mezcal” flooring me in the first, and the theme to the movie Chinatown transporting me (and a lot of other folks) to a new plane of consciousness (I’m not kidding) in the second. Both tracks appear on Anthony’s latest disk, Jack of Hearts. They also did a hauntingly gorgeous cover by Judee Sill (can someone remind me of the title?) and a a couple of Ellington covers.
Above: Stopped in briefly for a Campari and soda at Jaynes, now serving cocktails nightly.
Brother Tad and nephew Cole (both of them jazz aficionados) were there, as were Yelenosky and Jon and a whole mess of nice La Jolla folks I know. Jayne and Jon hosted the after-party for the band and Robin’s posse at their home. Robin, who underwrote the performance, was talking up her ProKids charity: “The mission of Pro Kids is to positively impact the lives of inner-city youth by providing programs that promote education, character development, life-skills, and values through the game of golf.”
Above: 2006 Meursault Les Chevalières by Boisson-Vadot and 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon by Chateau Montelena with pizza for dinner. That’s how one rolls in La Jolla. The Montelena, which I was tasting for the first time, impressed me with its restraint. The Boisson-Vadot? Killer. To borrow Lyle’s phrase, rocks and fruit.
I’m already on a plane back to Texas (posting from the plane!) and I’m looking forward to a weekend at home with that super fine lady of mine.
With the arrival of spring and the wine industry and its media back at full throttle these days, I have to confess that the lame-assed negativity of certain bloggers (and haters) has been bringing me down lately. I don’t know why certain folks can’t realize this blog — my blog — is about my life and nothing more… It’s a journal, its entries filled with my experiences, the wines I taste, the foods I eat, the pairings I stumble upon, the music I like to listen to, and my impressions of the places where I travel and the people I meet.
Anthony Wilson is definitely one of the coolest dudes I’ve ever met and we all had a blast drinking some killer wines, listening to vinyl, munching out, and hanging at Jayne and Jon’s after the show. A truly “epic” night, as we say in Southern California.
I was reminded just how lucky I am to be surrounded by such wonderful folks who truly care about and for me, warm family that cherishes my happiness and my achievements, and a gorgeous and loving lady, whose affection and carbonara truly rock my world…
Yesterday, I was treated to a heaping serving of awesome music, thanks in part to friends who know how much I like that type of thing and who just generally like having me around.
This post is for me to look back on and remember this moment and how it made me feel. This post is dedicated to those friends…
Thanks for reading…
Do Bianchi 
Jeremy, you’ve got your priorities straight…dunno why people waste time being negative. Life’s too damn short!
they don’t have to read it if they don’t want to. Cant we all just be friends?
…and you are the Mother of all mommy bloggers, dude…hang 10- even though you never came surfing and visited us squirrels last two times. I can hate too, see?
So sorry I had to miss this night and the opportunity I had been looking forward to of meeting my son Anthony’s friend Jeremy, whose posts have been such fun to read. And that Texas woman you’re married to is way beautiful! Hope to meet y’all one of these days.
I think the song was called “The Kiss”. I had a great time last night as we always do. Thanks for getting me to go to the show. It was music that blew my mind and those are the really sweet parts of life my friend.
THE KISS — Judee Sill (From LP/CD “Heart Food,” Elektra Records, 1973)
Love, risin’ from the mists
Promise me this and only this
Holy breath touchin’ me
Like a wind song
Sweet communion of a kiss
Sun, siftin’ thru the grey
Enter in, reach me with a ray
Silently swoopin’ down
Just to show me
How to give my heart away
And once a crystal choir
Appeared while I was sleepin’ and called my name
And when they came down nearer
Sayin’, “Dyin’ is done”,
Then a new song was sung
Until somewhere we breathed as one
Stars, burstin’ in the sky
Hear the sad nova’s dyin’ cry
Shimmerin’ memory
Come and hold me
While you show me how to fly
Sun, siftin’ thru the grey
Enter in, reach me with a ray
Silently swoopin’ down
Just to show me
How to give my heart away
And lately sparklin’ hosts
Come fill my dreams descendin’ on firey beams
I’ve seen ’em come clear down
Where our poor bodies lay
Soothe us gently and say,
“Gonna wipe all your tears away”
Love risin’ from the mists
Promise me this and only this
Holy breath touchin’ me
Like a wind song
Sweet communion of a kiss…
Keep up the positive posting, don’t let the negativity get you down.
A good woman and carbonara are just about all a man needs, anyway.
and a nice unspoofulated bottle of Barbera
Oh man, that was a such a night to remember! So glad that my friends could get turned onto Anthony’s music and hook up with the Jon/Jayne/Jar posse! Linda will love that her Montelena got special mention. That ’93 Dunn was pretty great, too (kudos to Erik). Thanks for memorializing it for us all!
An awesome time had by all!!! Thanks to Robin for introducing me to Anthony and the gang- Larry, Jeff and how fun was that to have Gilbert there??!!!! Great music. And Thanks Jayne and Jon for hosting…looking forward to seeing you soon at the Gastropub!!! And, yes, i love that my Montelena got special mention!!! What can I say, I’m a girl that loves attention!! So, Jeremy et al, there’s more of that in my cellar, let me know when you’re in towen again!!!
Was a night to remember. The music was right on, and sharing the evening with family and friends was very special. Thanks Robin all the way around, Anthony, Jeff and Larry for mentoring Cole, John and Jayne for hosting, and of course my brother Jeremy whom i love very much.
“Epic night” says it all Jeremy! From the pre-concert bash, to the amazing music of Anthony, Larry, Jeff and Gilbert, and topped off by the incredible hospitality of Jon & Jayne, not to mention the fact that Robin’s generosity made it all happen in the first place!
I wholeheartedly agree with Thor’s sentiment. Who are these “haters” anyway? And why would they hate your blog?
Is that a slice of blood orange in your Campari Soda? I hope so.
@Vino NYC you and I, of course, are of one mind on the Campari and orange pairing.
good eye…yes, blood orange
thanks, everyone, for taking the time to read the post and for sharing the “epic” night with me and all who were there… and thanks for the words of support, all around… I’m so lucky to have such great folks in my world — real and virtual…
Not only did the Montelena get special it got a color photo accompaning the pizza supplied by CV. Glad that I flew from the easy coast to be a part of the super evening of wine and song,Thanks to Robin for putting it all together for her friends and friends of friends
what was that new orleans music we were listening to at jon and jayne’s at the very end of the night?
Alvin Robinson. Around ’63-64 Alvin was on a series of small record labels owned by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. We were listening to a Charly records combo called “Shine On” that featured tracks from this era. Down Home Girl, Let the Good Times Roll, Something you got… Amazing stuff.
Great seeing you the other night. The band sounded great. Especially after intermission ; ) Chinatown!
how did i miss the 93 dunn? was it napa or howell mountain?
how could you have missed it?? it was right in the kitchen. in the cabinet. under the sink. in a paper bag. behind the trash can.
it was right there!
napa, i think